Cian Goddo of emerging Dublin indie-pop band Somebody’s Child told David Hennessy why it’s good to be going it alone, why he had to learn to be comfortable in front of the cameras and why the band wanted to help a GAA player in his time of need.
“This one is a big one for us,” Cian Goddo, lead singer of exciting indie-pop five-piece Somebody’s Child, tells The Irish World of their forthcoming EP 20 Something. Although the band have been represented by major industry players, Somebody’s Child now have the control back but Cian says they were feeling a little apprehensive about the release of the current single, Hold Me Like You Wanna.
“For the first time we are completely independent so this was a big release in that sense.
“We had management before. It didn’t really work out for us. The process was not as free when you were writing and maybe didn’t feel as honest. We took off the brackets and we felt more free in writing.
“It’s been great to have it so well received because I think we felt quite vulnerable in releasing this. It’s great and there’s still three songs off the EP we’re equally excited to release so it’s great that the first one hit home.”
There has been a buzz generating around Somebody’s Child for some time now due to songs like Love That Sound, Distance and Make You Alright.
The latest single Hold Me Like You Wanna has a very prescient theme for these times as it is about missing people although it was inspired by growing apart as young adults, rather than lockdown.
Cian explains, “I’m at a stage in my life where everyone is just growing apart. People that you were close to before are no longer close. It’s a strange feeling when people you love… They’re not quite lost, they’re just somewhere else.
“Being able to maintain those relationships to me is an important thing in my life and being able to, no matter what, have that connection where if things went sour, if somebody’s not okay, that there’s always somebody there for you no matter how many years go by between seeing each other.”
The EP deals with more trials and tribulations of young adulthood with the title 20 Something referring to those early years of adulthood.
“Supposedly being adult is a common theme. You think it will be great to be an adult and then suddenly you’re in your early to mid 20s and you still feel like the kid that you were before.
“It is a difficult time. These songs represent some of the feelings that I’ve felt in growing up like the losing of friends, anger towards the world and learning that the world that you’re brought up to live in is not exactly as you think.
“When I was a kid if I saw Donald Trump on the news, I wouldn’t have thought much of it. Suddenly he’s on the news and as an adult it’s a very difficult thing to grasp and understand, personally anyway.
“Another song Television Screen is about how we’re all a little bit brainwashed by the news. I hope people can connect to it.
“Being born in the early 90s, I was still part of a generation that grew up playing football outside and now it’s just screens everywhere. You do worry for the fate of the world. I’m reading 1984 by George Orwell. Certainly it’s a scary world we live in and it’s difficult for me as a songwriter not to talk about it.”
Not one for posing for photographs, Cian has spoken before about not being completely comfortable with being in the spotlight saying that if he could get his music out there without being seen he would.
“I think it’s something you have to learn to be comfortable with. If you are fully comfortable in being vain then they’re just vain, aren’t you? I don’t think it’s something that I want to be fully comfortable with but I think learning to understand what’s necessary and being able to adapt is important.
“It’s certainly not like me to pose for photographs. I don’t think I’d be able for too much of it. I used to completely hide my face from everything because I just didn’t want to be associated with the vanity of the entertainment business. Then I had to stop doing that because I felt I was creating a barrier between myself and the listener. I thought, ‘What’s the point in speaking out about political and personal issues if you can’t even show who you are?’
“There is a big, big reward in doing so. As I said, we’ve never felt so vulnerable in releasing music as with this EP and as a result the rewards are more gratifying. You’re opening yourself up and it could go terribly but at the same time there’s more to gain if you give it all and wear your heart on your sleeve.
“It’s been a strange one for me. It’s certainly not been a natural thing to be at the forefront of a brand especially when image is so important in this kind of industry. All I want to do is write music and play. If I do things that make me a little bit uncomfortable, that’s only natural in any industry.”
Cian and the band made a gesture to try to help the family a young Dublin footballer who suffered a traumatic brain injury in London reach its fundraising target.
GAA player Sean Drummond was involved in a traffic accident which left him with multiple skull and facial fractures last year.
He needed life-saving surgery at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel to relieve pressure on his brain, and spent the next four months in a coma.
Sean has been undergoing rehabilitation at the Royal Hospital for Neurodisability, but faces a long, and unknown, road to recovery.
Somebody’s Child asked for financial donations for Sean through their Spotify account.
Cian told us he wanted to help an unfortunate victim who happened to move in the same circles as him.
“My circle of friends would be quite close to Sean. I wanted to do my part helping out.
“I hear Sean is doing a lot better.
“I think it’s important to raise awareness for these kind of things if you can. I just imagine if an accident happened to one of my friends, I would want as much support and awareness as possible.”
The campaign to fund Sean’s rehabilitation has already raised €360,000+ of their €400,000 target.
“I’ve the utmost respect for his friends for what they’re doing. I’ve seen first hand the emotion that they put into it. I take pride in what they do and even though I don’t have a massive amount of followers, any help matters.”
Hold Me Like You Wanna is out now.
The EP 20 Something is out on 7 August.
For more information, click here.
You can donate to the Sean Drummond appeal by clicking here.
The band will make it to Britain next year.
